Snorkeling Package 1 via Kaani Beach Hotel & Day 2 of my Maldives Trip

<< Day One

Just realised i have covered day two quite extensively in my summarised itinerary and i don't think i would want to regurgitate about the loss of my mobile phone. 

Hence, let's go straight to the snorkeling bundle we signed up with our hotel; known simply as Package 1 (US$48 per person). 

Despite the sadness over the lost phone, i am determined to enjoy myself on my first day in Maldives, especially when the journey was all about snorkeling; my favourite water activity! 

Newbies to Maldives would take every opportunity to take photographs of pretty little sand banks and exclusive resort islands sighted at any moment; me inclusive. 

The one thing that hit me ten minutes into the speedboat ride was that the sea appeared to be relatively rough. I didn't think much about it as i wasn't in an enclosed vessel (which often makes me extremely giddy). Furthermore, i presume i would be fine since i would be in the water eventually.

First Stop - Turtle Reef - Didn't spot any turtle even though i was in awe of the wide variety of marine fishes. In all my snorkeling trips before Maldives, the view had never been this fabulous! 

Second Stop - Banana Reef - At this point, i was already showing signs of motion sickness; i knew trouble was coming when i started burping. The lack of synchronization between the eyes and brain, as a result of the strong waves, was worsened by the life jacket!

Most of my breakfast was contained in this blue plastic bag. I was hesitant to throw it into the clear turquoise water but that's the only option being offered to me by the boatman. I believe an alternative does exist; i could eat it again! Euuuuwwww.

Third Stop - Lunch at Sand Bank. After vomiting, i was actually looking forward to a substantial lunch that would help to fill my tummy. In my opinion, it was horrible! The best part about the sand bank was that i could recover from seasickness. 

Right ahead of us was Anantara Veli Maldives; one of the country's top resorts. Just the entrance fee itself for a day trip can set us back by more than US$150 per person and that's provided the resort decides to open its doors to non-resort visitors. 

Last Stop - Shark Point. This would also be the last leg of the snorkeling bundle; i was apprehensive to jump in as the waves were higher than the norm. 

Not one to be defeated when the money has already been paid, i forced myself to jump into the water. Honestly, this was the worst spot so far and i didn't even see a single shark! I could only blame myself as most of our tour mates managed to at least catch a glimpse of it. 

Those who are interested to know where we had covered for the snorkeling package may refer to the Google satellite map above; i have located the sites using Photo GPS Extract! 

With another bout of motion sickness gradually making its way to empty my stomach, I returned back to Maafushi Island at around 2pm. 

If not for my poor condition, i would have loved to try the sea sports! Anyway, i had to make it back to the hotel for further investigation on my lost item. Waited an hour for the IT technician to arrive and another 30 minutes to pull out the video from the CCTV server; video quality was bad and nothing was concluded. 

Made our way to the local police station to make a report as my travel insurer would likely require it for claims. Spent a long time in the station as i was required to WRITE about the incident; requested finally to type it out instead. Don't think most people can read my horrendous handwriting. 

While cycling back to the hotel and taking in the view of calm seas, we decided to pop by a local travel agent strongly recommended by many people on Tripadvisor; iCom. 

There were so many packages to choose from; dolphin watching, whale shark snorkeling, entry to many exclusive resorts etc! 

Refer to the whiteboard to see which package has already had signups! There is often a minimum signup required to "activate" the package although you could always choose to charter an entire boat. 

My dinner - cup noodles! Under the impression that food would be extremely unaffordable, we brought almost ten cups from Singaporeans! 

>> Day Three

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For my six days, five nights 

Maldives itinerary, click here.

Snorkeling at Shark Point @ Maldives [Part of Excursion Package]

The grand finale of the snorkeling package, signed with Kaani Beach Hotel, was at Shark Point where we might (nothing is guaranteed) catch sightings of the elusive marine fish. 

Even though i had recovered somewhat from standing on firm ground for lunch, i wasn't prepared for snorkeling in such disturbed water! Note for myself; the next time i am partaking in this activity, i must eat my motion sickness pills! 

Nevertheless, i am not one to waste my money and taking the plunge was just a matter of seconds, even if i might regret my decision. 

This time round, i endeavoured to keep up with the guide as his rich experience would help to point us to the right direction; for example, his keen eyes would spot sea creatures that we would have otherwise miss in our haste to follow him. 

It didn't take him long to stretch his arms out towards the seabed. 

He spotted a moray eel in between the rocks! If not for his alertness, i would have unintentionally squashed it to death, given i didn't even notice it. 

Maybe because it was the lair of the sharks, the entire atmosphere was almost quiet of activity; i didn't see much fishes, unlike Turtle Reef and Banana Reef.

We did swim a long distance though and it was exhausting! I pitied the old chap in front of me who didn't have a life jacket; however, as i said before, the piece of floating clothing worsened the giddiness. 

Almost coming to the end of our expedition, i didn't have the fortune to see the sharks although most of my tour mates did, with one claiming to have caught sight of four! Darn! 

Aside from the moray eel earlier on, i was only blessed with the view of more palm-sized seashells, a lonely sea cucumber and a blurry vision brought by seasickness. 

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Satellite Location Map

As above. 

For my six days, five nights 

Maldives itinerary, click here

Snorkeling at Banana Reef @ Maldives [Part of Excursion Package]

Expecting to see hanging bunches of fruits on Banana Reef is the last thing on my mind although i did wonder how the name came about. Whatever the case, a plunge is necessary to explore the reef.

I didn't think the water would be this deep and my fear of height almost gave me a panic attack; it seemed that the fear for height remains unchanged in water.

Can't help being envious that this Maldivian chap was able to remain calm and composed at such a depth with just basic snorkeling kit! Lousy me. :(

One type of marine creature was in abundance at Banana Reef; the unicorn fish! Speaking of its appearance, i personally felt that pinocchio would be a more appropriate name. 

There was the usual sergeant major fish too, which never failed to attract attention with its obvious, vibrant colours! In the past, i used to confuse it with Pacific Regal Blue Tang; the famous blue fish known as Dory in "Finding Nemo".

As you can deduce from the above photograph, there were countless fishes right in front of me then. In all my snorkeling trips so far. i have yet to experience a view like this! 

Alex, as expected, needed to show his power as the holder of the highly sought bread bottle. Unlike Turtle Reef, he had much better luck in enticing the fishes in Banana Reef to feast on the soggy bread. 

Cobwebs in water? I have no idea how they came about but strangely, the texture was almost similar to spider webs on land. 

The guide swam to the seabed to pick up this sea cucumber for us. The sea cucumber, known also as the sea ginseng, is an expensive Chinese delicacy! 

Love this photograph due to the contrasting colour; a bit like yin and yang with the green coral being the balance of both elements. Coincidentally, mixing blue and yellow colours would give us green! 

Little fishes hiding out in the corals. The picture quality of this underwater Olympus TG-3 was actually quite good and i had a great time taking tons of photographs! 

If not for the strong waves that affected the stability of my hand, i believe the clarity would be better.

Frankly, i was getting giddy once again from the pounding waves and my enthusiasm to take as many pictures as i could aggravate the problem further.  

Found a spot where i could plant my feet firmly to the ground; bad move, the waves were even more aggressive in shallow water!

Dunking my head in water was in fact far more comforting! Furthermore, you can get really cold with the wind blowing at you when your body is above water!

What do you call this seashell?!!?!? I spent like 15 minutes, without success, on google trying to find a name for it! The best part is that we used to have one kept in the living room's display cabinet! 

A saddle back butterfly fish was as curious as i was; was that even a seashell? After a second look, i guess it was half of a shell. 

Spotted the little bugger which had camouflaged itself relatively well in the sand. If not for its slight movement, i could have totally missed its existence.

Two other photos showcasing the view at Banana Reef before i end this post!

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Satellite Location Map

As above (near Guraidhoo local island). Now we know where the banana comes from; from the satellite view, the reef does have the shape of a banana!

For my six days, five nights 

Maldives itinerary, click here. 

Find Out the Location of Those Photos Taken from iPhone / Cameras with GPS Capability via Photo GPS Extract!

One of the technologies that i find most amazing is the Global Positioning System (GPS) and i had my first touch using an early generation iPhone that gave me a global view of where i had been with the pictures i took. 

The problem lies with limited space on my phone which means the picture files would eventually be transferred to my desktop computer. And that's it; the GPS is rendered almost useless even though coordinates are still within the file properties.

This is when you need Photo GPS Extract!

Download the software, install it and you can find the exact location of the picture at a click of a button via your mouse right click button. Send to the software and....

Voila, here's Banana Reef in Maldives! 

Now, i think i would be able to find the Lion Tomb in Chua Chu Kang Chinese Cemetery. I have been trying to find the sad looking cat without any success!  

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Download the Software

http://pge.bvsoft.be/

(only for Windows)

Note

Your device would need to have the GPS feature to lock in the coordinates. Aside from iPhone, some camera models have that capability, one of which is the waterproof Olympus TG-3!